Food for the brain and soul....

The Age Melbourne Writers’ Festival, now in its 21st year, has established itself as one of the pre-eminent cultural events in Australia. Staged over 10 days and nights, in August and September each year [this year - 25 August to 2 September] the festival promotes the art and talent of more than 200 writers from Australia and around the world, with attendances of more than 38,000.

The festival program features an enormous range of literary activity – entertaining discussions, debates, readings, film screenings, interviews, performances, workshops, master classes and book launches, as well as a lively schools’ program for both primary and secondary students.

The writers’ festival attracts some of the finest names in writing in Melbourne. It is an international platform for Melbourne writers and a Melbourne platform for international writers. Each festival features a fabulous line-up of Australian authors, from much-loved favourites to some of the most exciting and distinctive new voices in Australian fiction. It also offers the richest selection of international writers, many of whom have changed the way we think about the world, literature, or both.

Go to the Festival web site, here, for more info and to book. Go.......!

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Reading the Chilcot Inquiry Report more closely

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Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

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An unpalatable truth!

Quinoa has for the last years been the "new" food on the block for foodies. Known for its health properties, foodies the world over have taken to it. Many restaurants have added it to their menu. But, as this piece " Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? " from The Guardian so clearly details, the cost to Bolivians and Peruvians - from where quinoa hails - has been substantial. "Not long ago, quinoa was just an obscure Peruvian grain you could only buy in wholefood shops. We struggled to pronounce it (it's keen-wa, not qui-no-a), yet it was feted by food lovers as a novel addition to the familiar ranks of couscous and rice. Dieticians clucked over quinoa approvingly because it ticked the low-fat box and fitted in with government healthy eating advice to "base your meals on starchy foods". Adventurous eaters liked its slightly bitter taste and the little white curls that formed around the grains. Vegans embraced quinoa as

Mahler's Prodigal Son

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